


Different Now

by SomedayonBroadway



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Brothers, Child Abandoment, Child Abuse, Drug Abuse, Mentions of Sexual Assault, Modern AU, Modern Era, Social Services, The Refuge, homophobic slur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:01:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23504263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomedayonBroadway/pseuds/SomedayonBroadway
Summary: The running was supposed to be over now. No more drugs, no more cops, no more lying. It was supposed to be different now.
Relationships: Crutchie & Jack Kelly, Crutchie & Racetrack Higgins, Racetrack Higgins & Jack Kelly
Comments: 10
Kudos: 34





	Different Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [selizabethharrisburg](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=selizabethharrisburg).



> Hi friends! So, this was a request I've had for a long time. Like... a very long time. It wasn't even so much a request as it was a suggestion or idea from my friend selizabethharrisburg, inquiring about the three boys, Jack, Race and Crutchie, having the same father and being full biological brothers.
> 
> So, this is what I came up with about how their father treated them. It is based on a movie I saw a long time ago called "Gracie's Choice."
> 
> TW: Mentions of child abuse, abandonment, minor mentions of sexual assault, but nothing graphic one homophobic slur (I'm so sorry).
> 
> Please enjoy!

"Hi! Hi, I'm so sorry to bother you but you seem to be the only motel around here for miles and my son n' I… well, our car just broke down…"

It was an age old lie. At least, to Jack it was. He'd heard this one so many times before. But he just leaned into the man who had an arm around his shoulders, letting him spin the lie he'd told so many different times before.

"My step sister could be here real early with the money to pay you! We just need one night n' we'll be out of your hair."

The poor guy behind the counter didn't know what to say. Jack resisted the urge to groan before he forced himself to cough a little. And he turned further into the man holding him. "Dad," he groaned.

That seemed to get the clerks attention. Jack almost felt bad for the poor sucker. If he wasn't buying it before, he sure as hell was now. "Oh my God, is he sick?"

"Look… I didn't wanna say anything. We'd sleep in the car but… my little boy's been getting a little delirious. We just need a room until my sister can get here to help us out and we can get him to a doctor."

"Um…"

Jack coughed again, leaning his weight onto the man beside him. "Daddy…" he whimpered again. The man wrapped him in his arms, pressing a kiss to his head.

"It's okay, Junior… I gotcha… I'm just talkin' to this nice man, alright? We're gonna get ya some rest…"

"Okay… um… here," the man behind the counter caved, handing a key to the pair.

Jack's father smiled and took it. "Thank you! Thank you so much! What… what time do you get up? I'd love to make you breakfast!"

Jack shoved his face in the man's shoulder to hide the eye roll. But he didn't say anything else.

He just let the man fall for this stupid trick.

After all, they weren't really stealing. Not really.

—

"You were great, Junior!"

"Wouldn't have ta be great if ya hadn't spent the only money we had…" Jack muttered to himself as he sat at the edge of the pool, legs folded in front of him.

The man who looked so much like him wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Instead, his focus was turned to the two boys who were in the pool, both resting on floatation devices that had been left scattered around on the ground.

The man splashed at the older of the two. And the boy splashed back with a squeal. Jack sighed. "Dad, c'mon, don't get 'em all riled up. The guy's gonna hear us."

"Oh, Jackie, you're no fun," the man laughed, pulling the littlest of the two kids towards him, up and out of the water.

"Yeah, Jackie!" the boy in the pool whispered at him.

Jack stuck his tongue out at that before turning back towards the man. "Dad, they need sleep. They've been up for almost a full day," he stressed, reaching to pull the blond kid towards him.

The second their hands touched, Jack felt a pull on his arm. If he hadn't caught the tug, he would've been soaked from head to toe in a second flat. But he narrowed his gaze at the boy before playfully forcing him forward, towards the edge of the pool. "Racer, don't you even dare," he warned, stifling a laugh. "I'm serious, kid! Outta there! C'mon."

"Oh let the kids have some fun, JJ. They've been cooped up in a car all day!" Jack's father laughed.

Jack bit his tongue to keep from blaming that on his father too. It wouldn't change anything. "Tyler, now," he forced himself to say instead.

Race sighed but did as he was told, pulling himself from the water and sitting beside Jack at the edge of the concrete. "Dad's right. Ya ain't no fun, bubba."

"Well, fun don't get ya ta bed. Let's go, now. Bed."

Race rolled his eyes and stood, reaching down for the little boy in their father's arms. "C'mon, Charlie," he whispered to the kid. "Let's go rinse off and go ta bed…"

Jack watched them go and then he looked back at the man shaking his head. "How long are ya gonna do this?" he asked. "Ya know ya can't run forever…"

"Jack, c'mon, you know it's not like I want to keep putting you and your brothers in these situations. I just—"

"Needed a fix? Yeah, I know…" Jack spat out bitterly, guilt filling up in his chest just as the words were out of his mouth. "Sorry, I just… Dad, they woke up ta the cops… I mean… who even were those people? Do you even know them—"

"Jack," the man called, placing a hand on Jack's leg to get him to calm down. Jack did. "Look, kiddo… I promise… I promise things will be different. I'm gonna… I'm gonna call Medda. She said she'd help us get an apartment. No more runnin', okay?" he said, running a hand through Jack's hair. "We'll get you boys back in school, we'll settle down. We'll get you some more paints and pencils," he teased, making the boy laugh a little. "Yeah? That sound good?"

Jack nodded with a small, hopeful smile on his face. "Yeah… yeah, that sounds good…"

With a quick kiss to his boy's head James Kelly Senior stood. "Alright… just one more night okay… then we'll go straight… I promise…"

Jack nodded and stood, ready to follow his father.

He believed him.

All he could do was believe him.

—

It was a quiet morning. Just like always. The sun was shining through the small, rundown shack that three boys called home.

Jack didn't want to wake them. Not yet.

It had been a week. They were out of food. No milk. No bread. Nothing.

All they had was the last of the cereal in the cupboard to eat dry.

And Jack still had a fading bruise that spread across his left cheek.

All the boy could do was run a hand through his hair and count to as he breathed and tried so hard to stay calm. He'd been holding it together for too long. He didn't know how much longer he could keep preding that everything was okay, that he wasn't trembling and unable to think straight from the lack of food he had. They wouldn't survive for much longer. Not like this.

But he couldn't let them know that.

They had to go to school. They had to. Teachers were getting suspicious already.

He didn't need them asking questions now.

Things were supposed to be different.

He promised things would be different.

Jack ran a hand through his hair, standing on shaky legs to grab the last of their food and two plastic bowls. He served it and set it out on the table, along with two cups of water. Then he walked into the back room. And he found two boys still asleep on one of the two twin mattresses on the ground. He allowed himself a small smile.

They looked so peaceful and calm laying like that, facing each other as they slept.

But Jack knelt down beside one of them, the smaller of the two, the one with an old wooden crutch by his bedside. As gently as he could, he ran a hand over the child's hair. "Good mornin'," he murmured as the boy stirred, taking in a deep breath through his nose. "Time ta get up, Crutchie…"

He waited for a moment before that boy rolled onto his back and green eyes that matched his own peaked out at him, making Jack melt. "Mornin'..." the boy mumbled. Jack continued to run a hand through the eight year old's hair as the child yawned.

"The suns up, Charlie… but it misses your smile," he whispered, as he did most mornings.

That always seemed to get that sleepy grin out of the child. It always made all the bad thoughts go away, even if just for a moment. For one moment, Jack forgot about everything else and just focused on his baby brother. And then he laughed. "You wanna wake up Racer? Or should I?"

Charlie's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Me! I can do it!" he whispered, sitting up a bit on the bed and facing the older boy, placing his hands down on the mattress right beside the teen's blond curls. "Ty-Ty," he whispered, leaning closer to his brother as the older boy hardly moved. "Racer, it's mornin'!" he called, just a bit louder. Jack chuckled a bit at him. "We're gonna have a good day t'day because the sun's out, n' we're gonna learn new things, n' Jackie promised ta take us ta the park afta' school, n'—"

He was cut off as Race squinted in his sleep, twitching a bit, clearly not ready to leave the peaceful darkness he must've been experiencing just a moment before. Before Crutchie knew it, his brother was swatting at him and rolling over. "No…" he groaned, taking a deep breath, int on going back to sleep.

So Charlie looked back towards Jack. And Jack nodded with a grin shining on his face. "Alright, Tyler James… you're askin' for it…" he muttered, ruffling his baby brother's hair. "Get him, Charlie!"

Before anyone could stop the small child, Charlie had launched himself on top of his older brother, tickling him with little, wandering fingers. Not quite as experienced as Jack's, but getting the job done well enough.

Race was awake in an instant, fighting against Charlie as he allowed himself into a fit of giggles. "Okay! Okay, okay! That's enough! I get it!" he cried, only taking a moment to pin Charlie's arms down before flipping their positions on the small bed and tickling his younger brother rather than the other way around.

Jack just smiled down at them before eventually placing a hand on Race's back. "Okay, kid, that's enough… time ta get dressed," he sighed.

It took a long second before Race let up and complied, scooping Crutchie up in his arms for a moment before stepping off the mattress and letting Jack pull him in for a kiss on the temple.

That was just about when the front door was unlocked. And a loud voice called out for them. "Hello? Boys! We brought breakfast!"

Jack didn't let go of his brothers. He just sighed and glanced back at them, seeing Charlie grin and Race begin to get curious as it was obvious the kid was hungry. But Jack shook his head. "Get dressed, brush your teeth. Breakfast 'll still be there…" he promised, hoping it was true.

The youngest of the three tried to fight his way to the floor. "Dad's back?" he asked, excited to see the man after all this time.

All Jack could do was nod. "Yeah… I guess he is…" He nodded towards Race, trusting him to help get Charlie ready as he ran another hand through his thick brown hair and turned towards the door, walking out into the main room, finding not one, but two people, happily sitting on the couch, a box of donuts sitting on the table beside them.

When the man's eyes found Jack, the boy could hardly contain his anger. He wanted to scream. He wanted to lose it. He wanted so badly to give this man a piece of his mind.

But then the man looked at him like that. Those green eyes looked at him like he was his whole world and then some. It almost camouflaged the redness of his eyes.

The man was already high.

"Hey, Junior!" he called, smiling up at the boy even though a tall brunette sat so eagerly in his lap. Jack swore the girl was hardly older than he was. Twenty three at most. Jack's father was by no means an old man. But Jack didn't like to think about the relationships he had. He didn't want to think about why this girl had given him the bruise he had on his face a week ago.

The man didn't seem to notice the boy's discomfort. He just gestured to the box beside him. "Jackie, we got you jelly filled! I know they're your favorite!"

Jack closed his eyes for a moment. He steadied himself and took a deep breath. "Where were you?" he asked, almost brokenly. His father didn't answer. "It's been a week… we had no money… no food… what did ya expect us ta do?"

Sometimes it truly did amaze Jack. He was so similar to this man in so many ways. They shared the same eyes, the same smirk, the same hair, hell the same name, for God's sake. And yet, they were so incredibly different.

The man's stupid smile faded for a moment. And he looked up at his son, looking a bit disappointed. "What? I don't deserve a life?" he asked, reaching out for the seventeen year old. "Now is that anyway to greet your father? Come here," he ordered.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Jack leaned down and gave his father a peck on the cheek and then grabbed a donut and walked away, still unsure how to deal with the rage that had been building up inside of him for so long.

Not too long after that, Crutchie came limping out of the bedroom, rushing over to the man who set the woman on his lap aside to hug the boy. "Oh my little sunshine!" he laughed, whisking the boy up in his arms. Race trailed out not too far behind, still rubbing at his tired eyes. "And my little shooting star!" He lit up at the sound of the man's voice.

Both boys hugged their father tight. And Jack leaned against the kitchen counter, not trusting his own voice. The boys grabbed their breakfast and sat to hear about the great James Francis Kelly Senior's latest endeavors.

His endeavors that didn't include any of them at all. His own children left to fend for themselves.

Jack bit his cheek and shook his head. "It's okay… they're okay…" he muttered to himself.

That was all that mattered. It would be okay.

It had to be okay.

—

It wasn't. It wasn't okay. Nothing was okay.

Jack had heard the sirens. Just as he had a million times before. He could feel his instinct of flight take over him as his legs screamed at him to run, just as he had so many times already. But he stopped himself, listening again. And he looked around the shack that they called an apartment. And he didn't move.

He heard his father blindly rushing around the apartment, desperate to get rid of any and all evidence he could find. Things that might one day kill him. "Jackie! Cops! Get the kids!" he cried from the bathroom where he was no doubt spilling pills and whatever else he had down the toilet.

But for the first time in his life, Jack paused to think.

He didn't want to run.

He couldn't let them keep living like this.

He couldn't let his two baby brothers keep living like this. After all, there had to be something better for two precious kids like them. There had to be a better life for them than conning their way into sleeping in motels without pay, sleeping on strangers couches, barely getting enough food to scrape by, admitting to teachers that they were stupid or clumsy to hide another bruise that one of their father's many "friends" had thought it was okay to give them.

There had to be something better than this.

"Junior! Get your stuff! The cops are here!" his father called again. Still, Jack stood frozen in the middle of the kitchen, watching his father rush out of the bathroom with an empty bag in his hand. The man ran to the garbage disposal and threw the thing in. And then he looked back at Jack who still had yet to move, even as his two baby brothers rushed into the room, confused and terrified.

Charlie was on Race's back. They were ready to run without question. And it broke Jack's heart.

"Veronica! You gotta help me with these kids!" their father begged, beginning to panic as a knock was heard at the door.

But Veronica was already climbing out the window. "Screw your kids! I'm outta here!" she yelled, turning to run away.

The cops had her a second later.

And Jack's heart stopped when he looked out the window.

It wasn't just the cops. That was social services.

He cursed silently to himself as he took Charlie off of Race's back and held him to his chest, grabbing his other brother by the wrist, pulling him close as he sunk to the ground. There was no point in running now. But Race looked up at him, fear consuming his big blue eyes. "Jack, what did you do?" he whispered, figuring out what Jack already had.

No one had called the cops because of the drugs.

Someone had called the cops because he'd been careless and a teacher had seen the bruise on his face.

He didn't answer as the door was kicked down and his father tried to rush to them, almost as if he wanted to protect them.

Charlie struggled against Jack's hold, desperate to get to his father as he was tackled to the ground. "Daddy!" he cried, not understanding why they were hurting his father or why they were putting handcuffs around his wrists. "What are they doing?!"

One of the cops sighed when they saw the three boys huddled together by the couch. He shook his head. "Kids can't be with fathers who use drugs," he said as simply as he could. Jack held his brother tighter.

"No! Please! She showed up here last night! I don't know her! I didn't know she had drugs!" the man on the ground cried. "Please don't take my kids! Please!"

"Are they gonna kill Daddy?" Charlie asked in complete distress.

All Jack could do was kiss the boy's head. "No, baby… no, Daddy's gonna be okay…" he promised as he grabbed Race's arm again, just as he tried to run towards his father who was screaming for them, begging Jack to do something. He shook his head at the boy who tried to fight against him.

Their father was forced off the ground kicking and screaming for them not to take his sons from him. "Jack! Jackie, tell them! Tell them I'm not using!" Jack felt like he could throw up right then and there. "Jack, do something!"

Jack didn't do a thing to stop it.

"Jack…" Race stressed again, unsure of what was about to happen before another man appeared in their doorway and made his way down to them.

"Alright, you boys can come with me," he sighed, holding a hand down towards Race.

Race didn't take it.

So Jack stood, pulling his brother up along with him as they made their way out of the apartment.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe everything would be alright.

They walked out, the three of them, walking together calmly, accepting that this was happening. Their father was being hauled off to jail. And they were more than likely going into the system.

But just as Jack allowed himself to calm his racing mind for just a moment, the words that he'd been fearful of hearing for years now were spoken to him. "Alright, kid, I'll take Charlie from here…"

Everything inside Jack froze and he held tightly to the boy. "What…? You can't-you're not separating us," he demanded, though his voice was still quiet and scared. As Race grabbed his arm, Jack fell back a step, not willing to let go of the boy who clung to him in pure terror.

There were two cars waiting to take them away. One van and one smaller car. A man and a woman stepped out of the smaller car and advanced on him.

That was when Jack truly wanted to run. "Jackie?!" his baby brother cried as he felt hands on him, trying to pry him out of Jack's grip.

Jack began to shove their hands away with Race's help. His fifteen year old brother only lasted a moment before the man that had got them out of the apartment in the first place wrapped his arms tightly around the boy's middle and pulled him away, dragging him to the ground as he screamed and fought to get to the child. Jack didn't have time to think about Race getting taken away too as three people fought to get his littlest brother away from him. "No! Stop! You can't take him away! You don't understand!" he cried.

"Son, you have to let him go. It's just for a few days—"

"Screw you! You have no idea what you're doin'!" he screamed as Charlie began to wail onto his shoulder and kick out with his good leg, desperate to get the people off of him. They didn't stop. And someone began to pry at Jack's fingers. "Stop it! He's terrified of people he don't know! Please! He needs me! He's just a little kid!"

Tyler was still screaming for Charlie as they managed to rip him from Jack's arms only as two other people pulled his arms away from the little boy. "Stop it! Don't take him away!"

Charlie sobbed as he was set in the back of a car and buckled in. Jack was able to rip himself away from the people who held him down just as the door was shut. He rushed up to it, trying to wrench it open. But it was locked. Charlie fought with the seatbelt that was locked in place as Jack began to bang on the window.

All Race would do was sag into the person who held him down and let the tears fall as Jack demanded that someone unlocked the door.

But the two people who'd been riding in the car before just sat back in the front seats and started the thing up, only making Jack panic more. "No! Let him out! Don't take him!"

No one was listening to him.

And before he could even tell his brother everything was going to be okay, the vehicle was taking off down the street. And all Jack could do was scream and wrap his arms around his torso as he tried so hard to take in a breath.

He could hear Race crying behind him too.

He couldn't move.

He could hardly remember how.

A hand came down on his shoulder. He was led to the van just as Race was pulled up and over all the same.

Just as he was in reach, Race ripped himself from the man's grip and strapped himself to his brother's side, terrified that he was next. But they were both helped into the back. And all Jack could do was pull the boy to him after they were buckled in. All he could do was kiss the boy's head and hold him tightly, knowing now that it would make no difference. He just wanted to feel that weight in his arms while he still could.

—

"Welcome to the Refuge. Get undressed, put your stuff in these bags. You'll get it back at checkout," the woman stated, standing board behind the counter just beyond the door of the building that the two brothers were led into.

Race still clung to him. Jack didn't blame him.

The bags were shoved into their arms. Jack took them both. And then two small, plastic bottles were set on the counter. "This is for your hair. Lice," the unfeeling woman continued.

There were still hands on both of the boys' shoulders, just in case they got it in their heads to run again.

They'd been told it would only be a few days. They'd been told this was to keep them safe. But Jack couldn't think of a single thing he or his brothers had done to deserve this.

"W-we don' have lice…" he tried, only earning a snort out of the big, unamused woman.

"You don't know what you got. Scrub or I'll scrub for you. Hit the showers."

And just like that, they were led away, down the hall. There were several other boys wearing grey jumpsuits much like the ones they'd been given in the bags that Jack held. They were staring at them, like him and his brother were fresh meat.

Jack didn't like it.

He held his brother closer.

They were given a small tour of the facility merely with words and pointed fingers. Jack could tell Race was hardly listening. He was too busy being exhausted from the adrenaline crash.

Then they were left at the showers to strip and scrub themselves down.

Race didn't move as the door was shut and they were left alone.

Jack didn't know what to say. "Tyler…" he began, but Race shook his head.

"Don't… it… it ain't your fault…" he assured, looking beyond petrified.

Jack sniffled and pressed a kiss to his head before setting the bags down on a counter beside them. "I… I didn't think they'd… Racer… I couldn't do it again… Dad… he's been drinkin' n' gamblin' n'..."

"I know, Jack…" the boy admitted, wrapping his arms around himself. "I know… I just… he said it would be different this time. No more runnin'... he said no more runnin'..." That was when the kid broke. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He sobbed and Jack held him again, murmuring quiet nothings into his ear and praying that these people would just leave them be for a moment or two.

—

"Wake time is six, breakfast is at seven, general clean up at 8. You have to be washed, combed, beds made. You'll get your assignments for chores: Kitchen, laundry, restrooms, showers," the woman who'd checked them in rambled. Race's pinky was curled around Jack's own. They didn't want to let go of each other.

The woman stopped at a bedroom. The brothers stopped behind her. "Alright, you in here," she gestured to Jack and then into the room.

Jack made a move to obey and Race made a move to follow. But she held out a hand in front of the blond boy, shaking her head. "Not you."

And Jack's heart dropped into his stomach. "No, we wanna be together," he insisted, pulling his boy closer to him.

But the woman didn't seem to care. "I don't have any beds together, just do it." She had no remorse in her voice, even as a Race began to clearly panic beside him.

"W-we can share a bed, we've done it before. We don't have ta—" Jack's voice was shaking. One of his brothers had already been ripped out of his arms that day.

It was only a matter of time before this was bound to happen too.

"Alright, take him," she called to two guards who were behind them.

Race cried out faster than Jack could think. "No! No, please! Don't!"

"No, wait!" Tyler was ripped from his side in an instant. The boy began to dig his heels into the ground as he was quite literally dragged away from him. "No! Jack! Jackie! JJ! J! JJ!" the child was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Jack tried to run to him. But someone else held him still.

There wasn't a thing he could do. "Racer! Please! Please don't hurt him!" he begged brokenly, feeling all of his strength give way. He could see those guards grabbing at Race's hair. They were treating him like some kind of criminal.

All Race wanted was something familiar.

"Please don't hurt him…"

They just kept dragging him. Race fought as hard as he could.

Neither of them were strong enough. And eventually, those guards turned a corner.

And Race was out of Jack's sight.

Things were supposed to be different now. Everything was supposed to be different.

—

It wasn't until the next morning when Jack was being led outside that he saw his brother, exhausted and dazed and shivering as he was herded into the crowd.

Jack let out a small sigh of relief as he pushed his way to him. "TJ," he called softly, just loud enough to get the boy's attention. The kid didn't try to contain his sobs when his blue eyes met Jack's. His lip began quivering as he grabbed for Jack's hand. All Jack could do was give it was squeeze as they were led out into an outside area, surrounded by barbed wire fences. It was like they were in a large cage. "Are you alright?"

"N-no… i-it was freezin' in that room n' they left the lights on all night n' they got mad at me when I started callin' f'r them ta get you n'—"

"Aww poor baby…" someone cooed from behind them. Jack didn't pay them any mind. But Tyler's shoulders tensed. "So scared and all alone in their padded cell, huh?"

"Ignore 'em, kid. It'll be okay… they said just a few days…"

"B-but what about Charlie? Where did they take him?"

Shaking his head, Jack sighed. "Don't worry 'bout him, pal… it's okay…"

They were meant to be exercising.

But the boy who teased Race before wasn't quite done yet. "Yeah, you should be worrying more about yourself, blondie…"

Race's jaw clenched. "What the hell's that s'posed ta mean?" he asked, turning to the boy who was so much bigger than him in every way.

Jack tried to turn his brother back to him. "Racer, don't."

But Race wasn't listening.

The stranger just laughed and took a step closer to him. Race only backed up an inch. "It means some boys in here like ta play rough with pretty little blond fags who roll in here…" The words were unnecessary and vile. And Jack was ready to pounce right then and there. But he held himself back, taking a moment to collect himself before he tried again to pull Race back to him. But Race stood his ground and scowled at the taller boy who only smirked down at him, knowing no one was paying attention to them. Then the boy was striding closer to him until Race was forced to step back and had nowhere left to go. His back was against the fence and Jack knew he was terrified. He just didn't want to show it. "Don't worry, you might find that ya like it."

That was when Jack had heard enough.

He jumped on the boy's back, wrapping an arm around his neck and taking him to the ground. "Don't you dare touch him!" he demanded, gripping harshly at the boy's hair as the guy gasped for air in his grip.

It wasn't long before Jack was being dragged away, thrown into the same room he could guess his baby brother had been in the night before. And all he could do was cry. "I demand to know where my brother is! I have a right ta know! Somebody call Medda Larkin! Please! You can't just leave us in here!" he cried.

But the door was shut and locked from the outside. And Jack was trapped, only able to curl in on himself let the tears cascade down his cheeks.

This was his father's fault. His father was supposed to go straight.

But the man couldn't keep his hands off of any of it. The drugs, the beer, the women.

This is where that got them. And they hadn't had a damn thing to do with any of it.

—

When the door was opened up what Jack assumed had to be at least twelve hours later, he saw Race standing in the doorway with a hand on his shoulder. And Jack couldn't help himself. He rushed to the boy, hugging him tighter than he was sure he'd ever held anything in his life. And Race held him back just as tight.

"Alright, boys… time to get your things…"

Jack felt like he could breathe for the first time in days as they were led to the front desk and given back their things.

It wasn't too much longer before they were led out into the parking lot. And Race let out a small whine of relief as he rushed forward towards the woman standing by the car. "Medda!" he called, just as she embraced him.

Jack walked over for a hug just the same as his brain finally stopped whirling and his racing heart was set at ease. "I'm so sorry, my babies… no one told me you were here, I came as fast as I could," she swore.

Jack only sniffled and nodded. "It's okay… I'm just glad it's you…"

The woman nodded in understanding as she released them both. "Well, if they were gonna have you wait for your daddy, I'm afraid it would've been months," she sighed, opening the back door of the car for Race. They could feel the warmth from where they stood. "Now let's go get Charlie from the foster house he was placed in and get some real food in you, yeah?"

All Jack could do was nod as he rushed to the passenger side door and sat down inside, taking a deep breath in through his nose as they rolled away from that god awful place towards their little brother who was waiting for them somewhere else.

"Is Dad gonna be alright?" Race asked as he buckled himself in and watched Medda curiously through the mirror above her.

The woman glanced back at him as she drove and she sighed. "I don't know, baby… right now they've got him locked up for a lot of things… but you don't need ta worry about nothin' no more. You're with Medda now, understand?"

With a few tears in his eyes, Race nodded. "Okay…" he sighed. "Okay…"

Jack offered him a small smile. Race couldn't find it in himself to smile back.

But he took a deep breath and curled up in the back seat, resting his head against the window.

Things were going to be different now. They had to be.

He would make sure of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! There you have it! Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Again, thank you selizabethharrisburg for the request!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Guilt and Hunger](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23570335) by [Trekkiehood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trekkiehood/pseuds/Trekkiehood)




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